Herausforderungen » and two assists, giving him a pla

Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych both did what was expected of them to leave the Davis Cup final between Serbia and defending champion Czech Republic level at 1-1 after the opening day. Djokovic overcame some early nerves to beat Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in the first singles match and Berdych then swept past rookie Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on the indoor hard court at Belgrade Arena. With their formidable 13-1 record in Davis Cup doubles, Berdych and Stepanek have a chance to give the Czechs the lead in the best-of-five series Saturday. It was still unclear whether Djokovic would play doubles or rest for Sundays reverse singles. Djokovic earned his 23rd consecutive victory since losing to Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open final in September but struggled a bit in the first set. He broke Stepanek to go up 4-2 but had to save two break points in the next game and failed to serve out the set at 5-3, when he committed a series of errors. However, he broke again in the 12th game to take the lead. "I was a bit nervous in the first set," Djokovic said. "It was very important to win that one against high-quality player like Radek." The second-ranked Serb held serve the rest of the match -- saving seven break points in all, while converting five of six he created. "Whenever I would face (break points) I would come up with some big serves," Djokovic said. "I think that is what helped me stay confident in those moments." Stepanek said Djokovic was serving "tremendously consistently," which prevented him from getting another break. "The first set was really high quality, and so was the third," the Czech veteran said. "His defence is the best in the world, he proved that with his movement that he showed around the court. He always makes you play an extra shot." Berdych broke once in each of the first two sets, and twice in the third to wrap up the win 2 hours, 54 minutes against Lajovic. The 23-year-old Serb, who has a 5-12 record on the ATP tour, replaced Janko Tipsarevic, who missed the final with a heel injury. "It was a tough one, playing the guy I actually saw for the first time on court," Berdych said. "He had nothing to lose. These situations are not easy. I am glad I was able to make it happen in straight sets." Berdych said he hoped the Czechs would decide the final before a potentially decisive match against Djokovic on Sunday. "When you look at Novak and how he is playing its like Playstation. So the best way is to unplug electricity." "Im happy how I played," Lajovic said. "Im sure that many of the spectators did not even know how I look like." The Czechs are in the final for the third time in five years. Serbia won its only Davis Cup title in Belgrade in 2010, beating France. Discount Thunder Jerseys . INJURIES - Reds RF Jay Bruce is facing knee surgery for a torn meniscus and it could cost him a month of playing time. 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BRUINS FINISH RED WINGS The Boston Bruins calmly dispatched the Detroit Red Wings, with a 4-2 win Saturday afternoon, wrapping up their first-round series in five games. While the series was short, it was relatively competitive but, in the end, the Bruins simply had too much. In Game Five, the Red Wings had a goal and an assist each from Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg -- and contributions from their superstars may have been their best chance for the upset -- but it wasnt enough. Boston got a goal and an assist from LW Milan Lucic and two assist from D Torey Krug on their way to the second round. The tough part for the Red Wings is that they couldnt get any production out of the young forwards that had played such vital roles this season. LW Tomas Tatar, C Riley Sheahan and RW Gustav Nyquist were held off the scoresheet in all five games and the tendency might be to think that these inexperienced forwards were overmatched in the moment, but they were Detroits best puck possession trio in the series, all three on for better than 58% of shot attempts at 5-on-5. Yet, there was ultimately some dissatisfaction from the Wings, who needed goals, not possession. In the series-deciding game, which Detroit trailed for 42 minutes, Nyquist played only 11:55, a threshold he surpassed in 44 of the previous 45 games. Detroits uphill battle was made steeper by the fact that G Jimmy Howard missed the last two games with a suspected concussion. Jonas Gustavsson actually played well, stopping 66 of 72 shots (.917), but its tough to upend the Bruins with a second-string goaltender. Datsyuk, playing on a bad knee, finished with five points in five games and was the only Red Wing with more than two points in the series. The Bruins emerged from the series, relatively easily, even though David Krejcis line struggled in possession terms. It certainly didnt hurt to have G Tuukka Rask at the top of his game, stopping 146 of 152 shots (.961) in the series. C Patrice Bergeron and Krug tied for the Bruins team lead with five points in the series. Lucic, RW Jarome Iginla and D Dougie Hamilton each had four points. That the Bruins young defencemen were able to contribute offensively proved to be a real advantage. The series win sets up Boston for a matchup with their rivals from Montreal. The top-seeded Bruins will be favoured, but the head-to-head matchups with the Canadiens have been tumultuous, dramatic affairs (well, forever, but also) in recent seasons, so it should be a fascinating battle. PENGUINS TAKE SERIES LEAD Perhaps feeling a little threatened, with the series tied 2-2, the Pittsburgh Penguins came out firing in Game Five and dominated play on their way to a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The margin could have been much if not for the play of Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 48 of the 50 shots he faced. As the Penguins made a concerted effort to play Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin together on the top line, it turned out that Pittsburghs best possession numbers came from the second and third lines. Lee Stempniak, Brandon Sutter, Jussi Jokinen and Beau Bennett were each on the ice for more than 70% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Pittsburghs depth was also boosted by the presence of C Marcel Goc, who played 10:34 in his first game since suffering an ankle injury March 27. The possession domination for Pittsburgh, naturally, had a counter in Columbus, where Jack Skille, R.J. Umberger, Nick Foligno and Artem Anisimov were each below 30%. Penguins D Brooks Orpik missed the game with an undisclosed injury, giving Robert Bortuzzo an opportunity to play his first NHL playoff game and Bortuzzo didnt hhurt the Penguins in 13:36 of ice time.dddddddddddd While there has been criticism of Sidney Crosby for his play in this series, it needs to be said that his play is probably better than fine. After 11 individual shot attempts, and one assist, in Game Five, Crosby has five points and a in five games and has been on the ice for 60.1% of the shot attempts during 5-on-5 play. His LW, Chris Kunitz, had a goal and an assist, with seven shots on goal and six hits, in Game Five. This hasnt been an easy series for the Penguins, by any stretch, and theyre still trying to do it with the second-best goaltender in the series, but their skill advantage has been enough to give them the lead in the series. ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY Trailing 2-1 into the third period of Game Five, the Minnesota Wild scored twice in the first 6:25 of the third period to take the lead and appeared on their way to taking the game, before the Avalanche scored with 1:14 remaining to tie it, then finished matters 3:27 into overtime. In the end, the 4-3 overtime win gave the Avalanche a 3-2 series lead. The winning goal was authored by Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon, who finished the game with a goal and two assists, giving him a playoff-leading 10 points thus far. Hes three points away from Jaromir Jagrs scoring record for an 18-year-old rookie in the postseason. MacKinnon played 21:56 in Game Five, second among Colorado forwards, behind only Paul Stastny (22:38); MacKinnon, who averaged 17:21 of ice time per game during the regular season, has played more than 21 minutes in four of five games in the series. The sequence leading up to the game-tying goal was contentious. There was an apparent holding penalty that was ignored in Colorados defensive zone, with the net empty, and then the Avalanche appeared to be offside seconds before PA Parenteau buried the tying goal. This is what is known as "getting the breaks." Avalanche LW Cody McLeod scored a goal, but was obliterated at even-strength, on for two shot attempts for and 17 against (10.5%). With McLeod off the ice, the Avalanche had 56.2% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. For the Wild, LW Matt Moulson, C Mikko Koivu and D Marco Scandella were on the ice for at least two-thirds of the shot attempts at 5-on-5, though Scandella was unfortunate enough to get beaten by McKinnon on the winning goal. Its been a close series to this point, though the Wild have held the possession edge, and it shifts back to Minnesota for Game Six. Colorado may get a boost with C Matt Duchene nearing a return to the lineup. If Duchene is ready to go, that ought to help Colorados cause. KINGS KEEP ON KEEPING ON Facing elimination for the second time in the series, the Los Angeles Kings stormed into San Jose Saturday night and outplayed the Sharks from the get-go, building a 3-0 lead 22 seconds into the second period before chilling out and taking that lead to games end. The Kings had outshot the Sharks 19-6 by the time they had taken that 3-0 lead, chasing Sharks G Antti Niemi. Not only did the Sharks lose the game, but also lost D Marc-Edouard Vlasic was hurt (upper-body injury) on a run-in with Kings C Jarret Stoll. It cost Stoll two minutes for roughing, but Vlasic did not return. If hes not able to play in Game Six, thats a huge blow to the Sharks.. Kings RW Justin Williams had a game-high seven shots on goal (11 shot attempts), leading the Kings on ice for 73.1% of shot attempts. Kings G Jonathan Quick stopped all 30 shots sent in his direction, a decided improvement after some rough games earlier in the series. While the Kings are trying to make the unlikeliest of comebacks, from being down 3-0, if they manage to get good goaltending from Quick, maybe its possible. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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